Beard’s accuser, his fiancee, called police in Austin the morning of Dec. 12 to claim Beard assaulted and strangled her. Beard was eventually booked into Travis County Jail on a third-degree felony charge of “assault on a family/household member-impede breath circulation.”
In a statement released Friday through her attorney, the woman said that the Longhorns coach did not strangle her. She also said she “does not refute” Beard’s assertion that he was acting in self-defense.
MORE: What to know about Chris Beard’s arrest
The full statement:
Beard was suspended without pay following his arrest. Per Dana O’Neil of The Athletic, Texas said in a statement Friday that it is reviewing the statement by Beard’s fiancee.
According to a police affidavit filed after the arrest, the woman alleged that Beard choked and bit her, citing multiple abrasions on her face, arms and legs.
A separate police incident report noted that Beard told officers the woman initiated the altercation and that he was attempting to grab her wrists to stop her. When asked if any blows landed flush, Beard told officers, “I think she was trying to hit my private parts.”
Beard is in the second year of a seven-year contract worth more than $5 million per season.
